Atoll

Wireless Network Engineering Software

Version 3.4.0

Release Notes
New features and other changes introduced in Atoll 3.4.0 are described below. For more information, refer to the online help, the Atoll
User Manual, the Atoll Administrator Manual, and the Atoll Technical Reference Guide.

 With the introduction of 5G Multi-RAT technology, LTE networks in 4G/5G Atoll

documents use a different data structure from standalone LTE documents and
3GPP Multi-RAT documents.
To migrate legacy LTE Atoll documents to the 4G/5G data structure, refer to the
technical note Upgrading to 5G Multi-RAT.
5G NR documents from a previous release of Atoll 3.4.0 (R1) must be upgraded to
5G MultiRAT with the Atoll Management Console before being opened in this
release.

Release Note for Build 16593 (12 December 2019)

This is a corrective build that fixes several known issues. For more information, see the List of Corrected Bugs in the Current Build on
downloads.forsk.com.

Release Note for Build 16278 (18 October 2019)

5G Multi-RAT Networks
 The default display for LTE Downlink Coverage predictions displayed by discrete values is now set to the Transmitter field.
 It is now possible to import multiple beam pattern files in MSI format, using an index file, for different beam types.
 It is now possible to include interference from other radio access technologies in the calculation of Downlink Quality, Downlink
Service Areas, and Downlink Capacity predictions.
 You can now update electrical tilt, beamwidth, and electrical azimuth based on patterns for 3D Beamforming Patterns.
 You can now define Refinement beam as new beam type in 3D Beamforming. These beams are used for 5G NR CSI-RS.
 New CSI-RS coverage predictions are now available:
 CSI-RSRP Level (DL)
 CSI-RS C/N Level (DL)
 CSI-RS C/(I+N) Level (DL)
 CSI-RS Total Noise (I+N) (DL)

© 2019 Forsk. All Rights Reserved. 1

  Best Refinement Beam
 5G NR coverage predictions calculated for the non-standalone (NSA) mode, which is also known as EN-DC mode, now take into
account the coverage of LTE R8 cells in addition to the LTE-A PCells.
 The downlink interference in TDD 5G NR networks no longer applies the TDD OFDM symbols (DL) percentage in addition to the
downlink traffic load.
 It is now possible to set the 5G NR, LTE, and NB-IoT physical cell ID to empty value in the respective cells tables.
 It is now possible to calculate separate interference matrices for each radio access technology, and select the interfering radio
access technologies.
 It is now possible to use more than one interference matrices for PCI and PRACH RSI automatic allocations using the AFP.

LTE and NB-IoT Networks

 You can now force a refresh of the list of discrete values of a prediction value list when the prediction is calculated and when
the Display tab is opened by adding the RefreshDiscreteValues to the [Studies] section of the Atoll.ini file.
 For Downlink Coverage predictions in LTE, the default field for discrete values is now the Transmitter field.

Automatic Cell Planning (ACP)

 The 5G NR SSS CINR and 5G NR SSS C/N optimisation objectives are now available for 5G NR networks.

Release Note for Build 15641 (3 July 2019)

User Interface
 Atoll now supports Windows Server 2019.
 Atoll now supports Oracle version 18c.
 Atoll now supports feet in addition to meters, kilometers, and miles, as a distance unit. Setting the document properties distance
unit to feet applies to any related calculated values ("inhabitants/sq. ft", "ft per hour", and so on).

Predictions
 You can now duplicate and clone multiple coverage predictions in subfolders or all coverage predictions in the Predictions
folder.

Population Maps
 To add precision to population maps in predictions, you can now configure Atoll to weight population by clutter class when it
generates population maps. You can add a Clutter tab to the Population Properties dialog box, which enables you to configure
the Distribution per clutter class, by adding the "ClutterWeighting" option the [Population] section of the Atoll.ini file.

Macros
 You can now configure Atoll to start macros from a path that is relative to the Atoll.exe program, instead of an absolute path, by
adding the "RelativePathname" option to the [Macros] section of the Atoll.ini file.

Atoll 5G Multi-RAT
 You can now define LTE Terminals with and without support for beamforming.
 The EARFCN to PRB Mapping tool is now available for 5G Multi-RAT documents.

5G NR Networks
 You can now run the Beam Usage Calculation separately for primary cells and secondary cells.
 You can now calculate the 5G NR Coverage Prediction in NSA mode.
 When exporting vector formats based on Effective Signal Analysis predictions, the Configure Export dialog box now allows you
to a add a wider range of data columns.

2 © 2019 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

LTE and NB-IoT Networks
 You can now configure the LTE Effective Service Area Analysis (UL+DL) prediction to display colours by transmitter ("Discrete
values" display type).
 When exporting vector formats based on Effective Signal Analysis predictions, the Configure Export dialog box now allows you
to a add a wider range of data columns.

Automatic Cell Planning (ACP)

 The 5G NR PDSCH CINR and 5G NR RLC Peak Rate objectives are now available for 5G NR networks.

Atoll Live Module

 The predicted KPI feature has been deprecated. If necessary, it can be reenabled by adding the "ActivatePredictedKPIs" option
to the [Live] section of the Atoll.ini file.

Release Note for Build 15114 (23 April 2019)

Atoll 5G Multi-RAT
This release of Atoll introduces support for 5G Multi-RAT networks, this enables you to work with GSM, UMTS, and 4G/5G (5G NR, LTE,
and NB-IoT) networks in the same Atoll document.
For information on acquiring the new 5G Multi-RAT module, contact your Forsk representative.

Add-ins
The following add-ins have been updated and validated to ensure support of 5G NR and 5G Multi-RAT networks starting with this
release of Atoll:

Add-in Add-in Version

Scenario Manager 3.0

Atoll History Module 2.0

Antenna Audit Utilities 1.2

Cross-resolution Predictions 1.1

eMBMS Planning and Analysis 1.1

Easy Location Converter 1.7

Geo Selector 1.6

Incidence Angle Footprint 1.3

Power Split 1.2

Predictions on Transmitter Lists 1.2

Signal Level Export 5.6

Update Sites with Geo Data 1.4

Network Topology Display 1.2

Working Environment

User Interface
 The distance measurement tool can now measure distances using either projected distances (measured between points
projected on a 2D plane) or geographic distances (measured along the surface of the earth using a ellipsoidal-surface method).

© 2019 Forsk. All Rights Reserved. 3

5G NR Networks
 You can now automatically calculate the azimuth and tilt steps in the Beam Generator.
 You can now manage 3D Beamforming Models and Patterns in folders.
 You can now display the Best Control Channel Beam and the Best Traffic Channel Beam in the Downlink Coverage Prediction,
the Point Analysis Report and the Multi-point Analysis.
 You can now group, filter, and visualise 4G/5G Transmitters according to the following criteria: radio access technology, layer,
and carrier. By default, 4G/5G Transmitters are grouped by radio access technology (5G NR, LTE, and NB-IoT).
 You can now calculate MonteCarlo simulations in 5G MultiRAT documents. Beam Usage, Best Control Channel Beam and Best
Traffic Channel Beam are now part of the simulation results.

Atoll Live Module

5G NR Compatibility
 The Atoll Live Module for GSM, UMTS, LTE, and NB-IoT, is now available in 5G Multi-RAT documents.

UE Trace Data
 You can now filter UE trace data in the Network explorer at the folder and subfolder level.
 You can now export UE trace data in the Network explorer at the folder and subfolder level.
 You can now set Display settings on UE trace data in the Network explorer at the folder and subfolder level.
 You can now select multiple UE trace data items in the Network to connect them in one operation (as long as they share identical
headers).
 You can now display UE trace statistics on a single UE trace item or on the entire UE Traces folder.
 You can now generate weighting maps that use a variable spread radius (the radius that models the precision of the
geolocation). This enables weighting maps to display subscriber locations within an uncertainty radius that is linked to a
"Location uncertainty" value imported from the UE trace data instead of a fixed value.

Propagation Models

Irregular Terrain Model

 A new propagation model, called Irregular Terrain Model, has been introduced. This model is often required for FCC compliance.

Automatic Cell Planning

 The coordinates of candidate sites are now displayed and exported according to the projection system of the document.
 You can now link transmitters operating on the same frequency band by setting the canLinkOnSameBand option to the
[ACPMisc] section of the ACP.ini file.

4 © 2019 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

Release Note for Build 14255 (27 November 2018)

Atoll 5G NR
This release of Atoll introduces support for 5G NR networks, including the following features:
 Support for all 5G NR frequency bands both below and above 6 GHz
 Support for TDD, FDD, SUL, and SDL duplex modes
 Support for all 5G NR carrier widths, from 5 to 400 MHz
 Support for multiple bandwidth part configurations
 Support for all 5G NR numerologies: 15, 30, 60, 120, 240 kHz
 Support for all 5G NR self-contained slot formats
 Support for standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) deployments
 Support for multi-layer network deployments
 Intra- and inter-band carrier aggregation
 Dual connectivity (5G NR + LTE)
 Coordinated multipoint (CoMP) transmission and reception
 C-RAN architecture
 Advanced bearer and service modelling
 Massive MIMO: SU-MIMO, MU-MIMO, and transmit/receive diversity
 3D beamforming
The 5G NR module introduces a common technology framework that supports 5G NR, LTE, and NB-IoT. This new module is separate
from the existing LTE - NB-IoT module.
For information on acquiring the new 5G NR module, contact your Forsk representative.

Add-ins
The following add-ins have been validated to ensure support of 5G NR networks starting with this release of Atoll:

Add-in Add-in Version

Export to Google Earth 4.10

Cell Size Calculation 1.4

Multi-storey Predictions 1.3

3D Antenna Viewer 2.1

Scenario Manager 2.10

Bulk Site Creation 2.1

Coverage on Vectors 1.2

FCC Boundaries 2.6

Network Topology Display 1.1

© 2019 Forsk. All Rights Reserved. 5

Working Environment

User Interface
 The toolbar layout can be customised in Atoll. The toolbar customisation is now preserved from one Atoll session to another.
 A scroll bar has been added to the list of transmitters in the point analysis results.
 The Site Lists and Transmitter List filters are now available when using the Filter button in the Sites and Transmitters tables.
 The Cells table now retains filters when it is closed and reopened.
 You can use the Compare Records window to compare the transmitter and cell property records of several transmitters that use
the same radio technology. The records are listed in a table format.
 By default, Atoll assigns a colour for each cell that is different from the colours of the 50 nearest neighbouring cells. To reduce
the risk of assigning the same colour to adjacent cells, you can increase this value by setting the MaxColorNeighbours
parameter in the [Display] section of the Atoll.ini file.

Administration
 You can now define the size of memory blocks that are allocated to prediction calculations. Allocating more memory increases
the size of the blocks, which reduces the total number of blocks that are processed and therefore causes a significant
performance gain. To defined the memory block size, you can use the StudyMemorySize setting in the [Perfos] section of the
Atoll.ini file.

Predictions
 In Service Area Analysis (UL and DL) predictions for LTE, NB-IoT, WiFi, WiMax, and LPWA networks, when displaying the Bearer
field, only bearers that are relevant for the selected Service are now displayed.

GSM Networks

Automated Frequency Planning

 In case of traffic demand below 0.1, the AFP now forces demand to a minimum value of 0.1. This behavior occurs regardless of
whether traffic demand is extracted from the subcells table or is calculated from the traffic load.

UMTS Networks
 UMTS Terminals can now be configured with a specific additional loss (in dB) for each supported frequency band.

LTE Networks
 LTE Terminals can now be configured with a specific additional loss (in dB) for each supported frequency band.

Atoll Live
 Atoll now properly handles thousands separators when importing UE traces.
 You can filter UE trace data by defining, for example, data ranges and advanced filtering conditions.
 You can export UE trace data into a text file. If filtering conditions have been applied to UE trace data, only the filtered UE trace
data are exported.

Propagation Models

3GPP 38.900 Propagation Model

 The 38.900 Propagation Model now enables you to configure the entire list of Ki factor parameters in the Urban Macro (UMa)
configuration.

6 © 2019 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

Release Note for Build 13189 (18 June 2018)

Atoll Live
 The Atoll Live module is now generally available. Atoll Live enables you to use live network measurement data, such as Key
Performance Indicators (KPI) and User Equipment (UE) traces, including MDT traces (Minimisation of Drive Tests), for network
planning and optimisation in Atoll. Atoll Live requires a specific license. Contact Forsk support for more information.
 You can hide all references to the Atoll Live module, KPIs, and UE traces in the user interface by setting the Live option in the
[Licenses] section of the Atoll.ini file.

Working Environment

Supported Operating Systems

 From version 3.4.0, Atoll now supports Windows 2016 Server.
Atoll no longer supports the following versions of Microsoft operating systems:
 Windows XP
 Windows Vista
 Windows 2003 Server
 Windows 2008 Server (except Windows 2008R2 that is still supported).
For more information on supported operating systems, see the Atoll Administrator Manual.

User Interface
 Atoll now supports hypertext links in data tables for text custom fields that are specifically identified as hypertext fields. This
enables you, for example, to include links to external files, web sites, documents, or images in data tables.
 The Find on Map feature now allows you to sort search results by the search field or a secondary field depending on the searched
elements. You can switch between an alphanumerical-sorted or a numerical-sorted display.
 The Group feature now includes a search capability in order to easily find the fields by which you want to group data objects
from the Available fields list.
 Atoll now automatically adds scroll bars to dialog boxes that are too large for the current screen resolution.
 Objects in the Site Explorer are now sorted by alphanumerical order.
 Due to the addition of new fields to the Sites data table, some objects or predictions might be displayed with the wrong colours,
in particular when data from custom fields is displayed for the first time a document is opened in Atoll 3.4. If this occurs, you
must reconfigure the colours in the Display properties of the object.
 Atoll no longer allows leading and trailing spaces in text fields such as names, custom fields, and so on. By default, space
characters at the beginning and at the end of text fields are automatically trimmed. This behaviour can be modified by setting
the TrimTextFields option in the [Validation] section of the Atoll.ini file. A macro is available to verify that existing text fields in
the database comply with this rule.
 When importing cells from a CSV, Atoll can now check for duplicate cell names. To enable a warning when duplicate cell names
are detected, set the WarningSameValues option in the [Import] section of the atoll.ini file.
 You can reload the data in coverage prediction and point analysis reports by clicking Refresh in the toolbar of the report window
or the point analysis window.
 The Indoor coverage option has been renamed into Clutter indoor losses in order to clarify the purpose of this option.
 Before recalculating existing predictions, Atoll now displays a warning dialog box in the following situations:
 If the Atoll document was saved in a different location (Save As) and the pathloss data folder location has changed.
 If you are using the Multi-storey Predictions and are recalculating a multi-storey prediction outside of a multi-storey context
(for example, if you select Calculate, Force Calculation, or press F7). You should recalculate multi-storey predictions by using
the commands provided by the Multi-storey Predictions add-in.
 Sites now have an additional Alias field, which can be used as secondary name. To display the alias along with the site name in
the site explorer, right-click the Sites folder and select Show Alias.

© 2019 Forsk. All Rights Reserved. 7

  For standalone Atoll documents, if you previously used a custom field for aliases,
open the Sites data table and copy the contents of the custom field column into the
new Alias column.
For Atoll documents that are connected to a database, no action is required.

Transmitters
 Atoll now fully supports both absolute coordinates (X,Y) and relative position (Dx, Dy) for transmitters, remote antennas, and
repeaters in the corresponding data tables, as well as the ability to switch and convert from one mode to the other.

Add-ins and Macros

 The Cell Size Calculation Add-in is now included in the Atoll setup and can be installed at the same time as Atoll.

Automatic Cell Planning

 It is now possible to manage several frequency bands (also called technology layers) on one technology. You can select a
frequency band when creating candidate sites from existing sites.
 Throughput KPI can now be used when defining quality objective in ACP setups.

Database
 After a database upgrade or a data refresh, a database integrity check can be run automatically and silently. To enable this
feature, set the ControlIntegrity option in the [Refresh] section of the atoll.ini file.
 The following text fields have been increased to allow for longer names:
 Custom field names: 30 characters.
 Site names: 60 characters.
 Transmitter names, cell names, repeater names, remote and secondary antenna names: 100 characters.
 Several improvements have been made to the Atoll Management Console:
 You can now add NB-IoT as a technology with the View/Add Technologies command.
 User management is now fully supported with SQL Server databases.
 In the User Management dialog box, you can now select multiple projects as well as multiple users before changing access
rights.
 For Oracle databases, you can now select multiple databases before applying the Upgrade Database command. The results
of the upgrade are displayed in a log window.
 After adding a custom field to a data table, you can perform an Install/Repair command on the database to propagate the
changes.

Geo Data
 When importing .TAB files that contain colour data produced by third-party tools, Atoll now applies and displays those colours.

8 © 2019 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

Radio Calculations and Models
 All the coverage predictions of the Predictions folder can now be deleted at once.
 You can now calculate or recalculate a multi-point analysis by right-clicking it in the Network explorer and clicking Calculate from
the context menu.
 You can now export coverage predictions as a single file for all selected transmitters (Export the Coverage > Global) or as one
file for each selected transmitter (Export the Coverage > Per Transmitter)
 In the point analysis Profile view, it is now possible to calculate the profile between the selected transmitter and the closest site,
fixed subscriber, or relay node (LTE) by automatically moving the receiver to the closest one.
 It is now possible to define standard deviations per frequency per clutter class. This allows modelling the shadow fading more
precisely depending on the frequencies of the radio waves.
 Line-of-sight area calculations can now be limited to the computation zone.
 Radio Equipment
 Feeders can now have different loss per meter values when used in different frequency bands.

GSM Networks
 You can now select the frequency band for coverage by transmitter and coverage by signal level predictions.
 All transmitters that do not use the selected band are excluded before the calculation starts.
 Multi-band single BCCH transmitters are considered with and without multi-band management.
 An error message is displayed when transmitters that use the same frequency band are on the same site and on the same
layer. The messages is a warning if the service zone is "All servers" or if a band filter is selected.

LTE NB-IoT Networks

 You can now define which frequency bands are supported by each terminal for carrier aggregation. This definition can be done
in the LTE or LTE / NB-IoT tab of the Terminal Properties dialog box.
 The default mode of LTE carrier aggregation and NB-IoT multicarrier operation is now group-based, which means that cells
belonging to the same group can perform LTE carrier aggregation and NB-IoT multicarrier operation with each other. The
CAWithinENB is now set to 2 by default in the [LTE] section of the Atoll.ini file.
 256QAM default bearers are now included with the associated thresholds and graphs.
 New UE categories 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, M2, NB2 are now included.
 Reception equipment now supports separate bearer selection threshold settings for UL and DL. You can check consistency
between UL and DL bearer selection thresholds among equipment by setting the UseCommonBearers option in the [OFDM]
section of the Atoll.ini file.
 Atoll now supports modelling of NPDSCH and NPUSCH Repetitions for NB-IoT networks. A Repetitions tab has been added to
the Reception Equipment Properties dialog box.
 You can now define an inband NB-IoT NPCI allocation strategy per cell.
 A new coverage prediction RSRP level by transmitter is available.
 You can now configure the Overlap margin (in dB) for all LTE studies other than effective signal analysis.
 New best server selection options can be made available for in-depth analyses by setting the
ExtendedServerMethodsInPredictions option in the [LTE] section of the Atoll.ini file. The best server selection can be based on
the uplink total losses in the Effective Signal Analysis (UL) coverage prediction, and on RSRQ, RS C/(I+N), or PDSCH C/(I+N) in

© 2019 Forsk. All Rights Reserved. 9

 the Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL) coverage prediction. These best server selection methods are computationally intensive and
may require more time to calculate than the ones based on RSRP available by default.
 It is now possible to define a maximum coverage range per LTE transmitter. The maximum range is used as an upper limit for
the transmitter's best server coverage.
 It is now possible to calculate interference matrices including base stations located inside the computation zone or the focus
zone or hot spots.
 It is now possible to calculate interference matrices based on the amount of interfered traffic or interfered surface.
 It is now possible to define the method for user data distribution among aggregated servers for each carrier aggregation group
and CoMP set.
 It is now possible to define whether to include the primary serving cell in user data transmission or not. This allows modelling
the LTE-U and LAA deployment scenarios where phantom secondary cells carry out all the user-plane data transmission while
the control plane is kept on the primary serving cell that uses a licenced band. It can also be used to model secondary small cells
to offload the primary macro cell by carrying all the user data within their coverage.
 For transmitters carrying more than one cells, of type PCell and SCell, but transmitting the same powers, priority is given to the
PCell during best server selection.
 It is now possible to create Service Area Analysis DL and UL coverage predictions to show the number of repetitions and the
repetition gains per pixel.
 The LTE NB-IoT AFP now takes into account the NPCI UL DMRS, i.e., NPCI Mod 16 collisions.

10 © 2019 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

© 2019 Forsk. All Rights Reserved. 11
Atoll 3.4.0 Release Notes
Release: AT340_RNR_E5 (December 2019)
© Copyright 1997-2019 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.
Published by:
Forsk
7 rue des Briquetiers
31700 Blagnac, France
Tel: +33 562 747 210
Fax: +33 562 747 211
www.forsk.com
The software described in this document is provided under a license agreement. The software may only be used or copied under the terms and conditions
of the license agreement. No part of the contents of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written
permission from the publisher.
The product or brand names mentioned in this document are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective registering parties.
Third party services that are not part of Atoll are governed by the terms and conditions of their respective providers, which are subject to change without
notice.
The publisher has taken care in the preparation of this document, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility
for errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of the use of the information
contained herein.

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Fax: +33 562 747 211 Fax: +1 312 674 4847 Tel: +86 20 8553 8938 Fax: +86 20 8553 8285

AT340_RNR_E5 www.forsk.com December 2019